Visions
by finem facere mundo
Summary: A crossover between Halo and other games. A battle to save multiple dimensions from the chaos in each one, and can Chief, with the help of a few unlikely allies, stop a malevolent being from destroying all universes in one fatal blow?-CHAPTER 13 NOW UP!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

_**What would happen is they crashed? If their worlds mixed and they finally saw the others? Chaos, or something else?**_

_I have no idea, lord. But I'm pretty sure it would be chaos. The darkness of those two worlds and the devastation of the creatures of the other. It would be interesting to watch._

_**My point exactly . . .**_

_You mean, you are actually going to_ -

_**Yes, I am. This will test them in ways that they never imagined. Two worlds will meet with a level of technology that they never expected, and the other world with confront magic and monsters. Let them see who can truly survive, who is truly great. Yes . . let us see.**_


	2. Another World

Chapter 1: Another World

The Chief stood poised, hidden behind the foliage. He looked into the targeting systems of the sniper rifle and held up one hand. He motioned with his index and middle finger. The air rippled and the Arbiter moved silently across the ground. He leveled a beam rifle. The comm system in Chief's helmet crackled.

"_Lets be ghosts_." Johnson said. Chief squeezed the trigger. A Brute grunted and fell dead. The Brute Chieftain growled and ran out, searching for his invisible enemy.

"So stupid." the Arbiter muttered. He sent a white hot line straight through the Brute's head. The Grunts paused. Their leaders were dead.

"Oh shit." one squeaked. The Arbiter slung the rifle onto his back and turned on an energy sword. He leapt and landed right in the center of the Grunts, crushing a few in the process. His camouflage deactivated. With one swipe he cut a clean line through several Grunts' heads. Then with another he killed more of the stunned creatures.

The Chief switched to an assault rifle and moved in, cleaning up any other Grunts. A Marine picked off the Jackals with a sniper. The Arbiter grunted.

"Flawless." the comm crackled again.

"_Like I said, ghosts_." Johnson said.

"Only two Brutes?" the Chief surveyed the dilapidated bunker, it sat next to a cliff overlooking valleys and rivers.

"_Well this base isn't exactly important, Chief_." said Johnson.

"Then why was there a Chieftain?" the Chief asked.

"_Who the hell cares_?"

"Just an observation, Sergeant-Major." Johnson and a group of Marines walked out of the trees.

"Still." Johnson said while walking through the multi-colored blood on the ground. "Wouldja look at that. We painted the ground while we were here." the group started to move on, but they stopped as the earth started to shake. Rusted metal shattered and a few Marines lost their balance. Johnson swayed, the Arbiter and Chief barely budged except to look around for the cause of the quake.

"Spartan!" the Arbiter pointed into the distance. The Chief looked. Somewhere passed the bunker, the sky seemed to change. The group took off passed the bunker. Just passed the concrete, the land changed to become a green, hill-covered, land with a dirt path cutting through it. The Chief looked up and saw that the sky changed abruptly to a lighter blue right about where the path began.

"Ah hell, what kinda fucked up shit is this?" Johnson stared in confusion.

"The Ark?" Chief asked.

"No." the Arbiter shook his head. "The Ark's function is different from this."

"So then what the hell is this?" a Marine asked.

"I'm not sure." the Arbiter replied. The Arbiter put up his energy sword and took a out a plasma rifle.

"I was thinking the same thing." said the Chief. He hefted his assault rifle. Johnson shrugged.

"This better not get us killed, John." said Johnson. "But if this is some kinda new Covenant thing, then I say we bring it down." The Marines cocked their weapons and then they advanced through the rip. There was a strange watery ripple of light, like diamonds glittering in waves, and they were in another world.


	3. Encounter

Chapter 2: Encounter

They surveyed the world around them. Johnson looked back. There was a strange glimmer, but it was transparent. They could get out of this place, but the exit would not be as easy to find as the entrance.

"This is bad." the Chief stated. "We're standing in a very open area."

"The ruins." the Arbiter pointed to rows of ruins along the path. Johnson nodded.

"You Marines, move behind those ruins on the left. Chief, Arbiter and I will take the ruins on the right." They split into their assigned groups and took up positions, moving slowly along the side of the road. They saw nothing.

"No hostile forces at all." Johnson said. "Ain't that nice." he lit a cigar and took a puff. He held it between his teeth as he spoke. "I'm beginning to think that this was a waste of time, Chief."

John was about to agree, but he stopped. He felt compelled to stay. A invisible hand urged him to stay here. He cast a glance at the Arbiter who was staring intently into the distance.

"You too?" the Arbiter asked. Under his helmet a smile tugged at the edge of John's mouth.

"I say we wait for a few minutes." the Chief said. Johnson shrugged. He laid back against the hill and pushed his cap over his eyes.

"Wake me when we get there." he said.

"It is strange, Spartan." the Arbiter said. "Very strange."

"You know what's strange don't you? The fact you got _nine _lips, now that's what's strange." Johnson mumbled. A cool wind swept across the ground, making the grass dance in strange patterns. The Chief leaned against the hill and waited. He didn't know what for, only that something was telling him to wait.

He thought of what Earth probably looked like right now, and where he was. His mind drifted away from the present, something that did not ordinarily happen. Then he heard something that broke him out of his daze.

A roar, and a shout. The roar was familiar.

"Spartan! Jiralhanae!"The Chief jumped up, his superhuman reflexes fueling him with a strange adrenaline. His gun was up before he knew where it was. Johnson quickly woke up and was on his feet. He started scanning the ground.

"Where's my damn cigar!" he muttered.

"No time." John said.

"_All right ladies,_" Johnson said through the comm, "_lets see you make those gorillas hurt_!" the group moved quickly behind the ruins. They reached the end and looked out. A group of people were fending off four Brutes, one a Chieftain, and John noticed a swarm of Drones closing in. The Arbiter had one Brute down without a word. He wasted no more energy on them. He pulled out his plasma rifle and fired. The bright, colorful, energy melted through the armored Brute. But he was not finished yet.

The Brute pulled out a spiker and fired. The Arbiter ducked away from the shots and slammed a fist into the Brute. He brought the rifle down onto his skull. There was a sharp _crack_. Then with his free hand he pulled out his energy sword and finished the Brute off.

John sped forward and with unmatched strength he sent a Brute into the ground. Another Brute turned to attack him. The Chief fired the assault rifle into the Brute's face at point-blank range.

The now decapitated Brute toppled into the Chieftain, who roared in anger. Johnson aimed and fired. The first shot blew off the Chieftain's helmet. The Arbiter moved in and took off the arm the Brute held the gravity hammer in. The Chief slammed a fist into his exposed face, crushing the skull, but not killing it. Johnson finished it off with another shot to the head.

Out of the corner of his eyes, the Chief noticed the last Brute slowly getting up. Without looking, John brought his boot down, crushing its head. Johnson pulled his newly lit cigar out of his mouth and blew out a cloud of smoke.

"Now that's what I call a headache." he chuckled. John looked back.

"Oh, hell." the Drones were starting to attack the Marines. Before they reached them, though, a Marine tossed a plasma grenade he had picked up into the swarm. After latching to a Drone, it exploded, shredding more than half the swarm.

The rest were finished off with their guns. John turned around to see who they had just saved. To his shock, he saw that they had been fighting off the Brutes with swords!

The people were in a group, there were about six. One had on a yellow jacket and had blonde hair. Another looked older, he had short black hair, a long red jacket, and carried a long sword that resembled an oversized katana. The boy in the front put his sword up and eyed their guns.

"Th . . thanks." he said nervously.

"No problem kid." Johnson said. John eyes the group, something seemed off, besides the swords.

"Hey, Chief, where'd Arby go?" John looked back. He noticed the Arbiter on the hill that the Drones had come from, obviously searching for strays. He started to come back down.

"Hey, who are you?" the boy asked.

"What do you mean, 'who are you'?" Johnson asked. "We're UNSC Marines." the boy looked even more confused. "Were the fuck are we." he muttered while taking another puff of smoke.

"You're in Spira." a voice said. Chief noticed her immediately. She was young with brown hair. She was carrying a staff and she wore a strange dress that half resembled a kimono. She was standing behind the group.

"Where?" Johnson looked at her, with an eyebrow raised.

"How did you get here?" she asked

"Was it Sin?" the boy asked.

"Was it what?" Johnson asked, his voice raised a little.

"The truth is, we're not sure how we got here." John said. "We're from a planet called Earth."

"And we need to get back because, unfortunately, our entire race is at war. Those things _we_ just killed, those are only some of them. The boy pulled out his sword.

"Behind you!" he yelled. He sprinted passed Chief, who saw what he was running at before the boy passed him. He grabbed the boy's collar, careful not to kill him in the process. "What're you doing!"

"That's a friend of ours." the Chief said.

"That's a fiend!" the boy shouted.

"A what?" Johnson said.

"Put him down, Spartan. He does not yet understand." the Arbiter said.

"Oh shit, it talks!" the boy said. John dropped him.

"Who are you kid?" Johnson asked.

"Tidus." he said. The girl in the back of the group started to walk forward. A man with a strange accent tried to stop her. She looked at him kindly and he shrugged. She reached the front of the group and looked at the Chief.

"My name is Yuna, welcome to Spira."


	4. The Pleasantries

Chapter 3: The "Pleasantries"

"Who are you?" Yuna asked. Johnson took his cigar out of his mouth and held it between his forefinger and thumb.

"I'm Sergeant Major Johnson." he gestured to the Arbiter. "He's the Arbiter, and the seven foot tall suit of armor in front of you is Spartan-117, the Master Chief."

"That's Wakka." Yuna pointed at the man with the strange accent. He had fiery red hair that curved upwards in the front to form a kind of wave. "That's Lulu." she pointed to a pale woman who wore a slightly revealing black dress, she had black lipstick, long black hair in a ponytail, carried a strange doll, and had tons of belts wrapped around her legs. "That is Auron." she gestured to the man with the long red jacket, he pushed a pair of black sunglasses into position over his eyes. She pointed to the last member, "And that's Khimari." Khimari stood like a man, but resembled a lion, only he was blue, had white hair, and had a broken horn on his forehead.

"What are you doing here?" Tidus asked.

"Actually, we have no idea." Johnson said, drawing in smoke.

"You could say, we're here by accident." said John.

"I do not think so." said the Arbiter. Johnson rolled his eyes. "What is this place?" the Arbiter asked.

"This is the highroad. We are on our way to the moonflow, in that direction." said Tidus. Pointing the way that John had come from. The Arbiter stepped forward.

"Let us accompany you, at least that far. Just in case any more of the Covenant have hidden along this highroad." he said. Johnson's eyes widened.

"Say what?" he cried.

"Of course." Yuna said. Wakka pushed his way to her.

"Lady Yuna, I mean, is that really a good idea, ya?"

"If the Lady trusts them." Auron said. His tone was cold. Wakka took a step back.

"Ya, okay." Yuna smiled and started walking. The others followed her. Arbiter and the Chief went ahead of her.

"So why are you going to that place you said?" asked Johnson.

Yuna bowed her head, "I am on a pilgrimage." she said solemnly.

"Pilgrimage?" John asked.

"Yes, I am a Summoner." she said. Johnson raised an eyebrow. Yuna noticed, "I must journey and pray for the help of Aeons, spiritual creatures that can help me bring about a Calm to Spira."

"A Calm?" the Arbiter asked. "Is there unrest here."

"Ya, you could say that." said Wakka.

"Aeons are the only things that can help the Summoners defeat Sin. A creature that plagues this world because of our past. Machina . ." Tidus cut her off.

"Machines."

"Caused Sin to appear. Summoners must make this pilgrimage to defeat Sin, resulting in a two year Calm. Those two years are what the people on Spira pray for their whole lives."

"You said that you were in a war where you come from." said Auron.

"Yeah. The humans versus an army of aliens called the Covenant." said Johnson. "The Arbiter's people, we call them Elites, use to be the strongest race in the Covenant. But he started a civil war between the Elites and the Covenant. The Elites joined the humans and the tides turned."

"We were in the middle of trying to reunite with the rest of our army when some kind of hole opened up on our world. We walked through and ended up here."

"So what were those things you killed?" asked Tidus.

"The new military heads of the Covenant. The Brutes, as we call them." said Johnson. "Of course, the real leaders are the Prophets."

"The Prophets have been keeping a secret from all of us." said the Arbiter. "We went to war with humans because our gods, the Forerunners, told us to. In actuality, the humans are the descendants of the Forerunners, and the Prophets knew the entire time. And now the Prophet of Truth, the leader of the Covenant, wants to activate the Halo array."

"What's the Halo array?" Yuna asked.

"The Halos are weapons. Bombs, setting them off would wipe out all life in our galaxy." said John.

"So why would this guy Truth want to activate these Halo things, ya?" Wakka asked.

"He believes it will allow him to become like the Forerunners, because the Forerunners built the Halos and activated them once before. How the humans came about is still unknown. Unless some hid on a shield world." the Arbiter said.

"The Forerunners were geniuses. They got to the point where they could build worlds." said Johnson. "The Halos are rings, but the lining of the inside is like a world. It can sustain life."

"Why would these guys build something so powerful? I mean what's the point?" Tidus asked.

"To save all other races." said the Chief.

"The Halos are not just weapons, they are prisons." said the Arbiter gravely.

"Prisons for what?" Yuna asked. John was about to answer, but before he could, the sky exploded . . .


	5. Drowning Spira

Chapter 4: Drowning Spira

. . . An unearthly sound tore through the air. A great ring of light erupted in all directions. Light pooled quickly in the middle, and when it was gone, a haunting sight greeted them.

It hovered there, glowing, seemingly beautiful. A large crystal hanging suspended in limbo. An ethereal object. One that the Chief and Arbiter remembered all too well. Then the spell broke.

It fell.

John felt a tug in his gut. A kind of hopelessness. Another world was about to become subject to the most destructive beings he had ever witnessed. There was an enormous explosion. Dirt and water lifted into the air miles away. The peak of the object could be seen over a small mountain in their way.

"Fuck." Johnson mumbled.

"What the hell was that?" Tidus asked, shocked.

"High Charity." said the Arbiter. "The old Covenant capital."

"What do you mean by 'old'?" Tidus asked, worried.

"Remember when I said the Halos were prisons, too?" the Arbiter asked. Tidus nodded.

"Faintly."

"The creatures it held infected High Charity. Now the parasite is here." Another blast shook Spira.

"What the fuck now!" Johnson shouted. They looked up. Johnson's face went from frustration to relief.

"Perfect." John said. In the air were two human warships, and one Elite warship. John heard his comm turn on.

"_Y'all need some assistance?_" the voice asked.

"_Hell_, yes!" Johnson said.

"The Flood are here." said the Chief.

"_You're kidding me_ . . ."

"No, we need assistance against the Flood." said John. "I think the Gravemind is here."

"_We'll send down a Pelican, get you closer. We have two Scorpions and some Hornets._"

"Any Marines?" Johnson asked.

"_Of course!_"

"Good." said Johnson. The bay doors of one of the ships opened. A Pelican flew out and then down. Once the door was open, the Marines, Chief, Johnson, and the Arbiter all climbed in.

"Wait!" said Yuna. "We want to help."

"It's too dangerous f . . ."

"Those are people, my people. I want to help." she said. Her face looked serious. Her tone was unchanged.

"Let them come." said John. "Maybe they can help." The six others climbed in. The doors remained open. John set the sniper on a rack, picked up some extra assault rifle ammo, grenades, and a shotgun. The Pelican dropped them off near the moonflow. From where they stood, High Charity loomed over them like a mountain.

They had seen nothing yet.

"When we arrive, it will be nothing like you thought or remember it to be." the Arbiter said. "You will see horror now." another Pelican dropped off extra Marines. Another Pelican came down from the warships, and some Hornets.

"All right men, the Elites are gonna glass the ship as soon as we clear any surviving civilians out of the area. Kill any infected. Understood?" the Marines were ready.

John and the Arbiter went in behind the Marines. The other six were close behind. The Hornets flew in overhead. Their twin engines humming. Even a few Banshees flew over.

"This Machina, I've never seen anything like it." Yuna said.

"Our races have come a long way, missy." said Johnson. They reached a bend in the road. Yuna gasped. Tidus and the rest were taken aback with horror. "Lets exterminate these little shit sacks!" Johnson yelled.

The land was damaged. Even though it had not fallen far, High Charity was big, and had taken its toll. The Flood had ravaged the people there. Some were left. Defending themselves with swords or anything they could find.

The Marines cleared through the infection forms. But then the combat forms charged in. A few Marines were taken down. But only a few. When fighting the Flood, there was no taking cover, it was only run and shoot. And praying to God that you did not get infected.

Wakka threw a ball at the Flood, he was strong. It hit them with such intensity that it maimed or killed them. Sometimes a strange energy would surround it. It looked like fire, or electricity.

Tidus got cocky, quickly. He killed a few infection and combat forms. But when the juggernauts appeared, he was almost killed. It charged him. The Chief stepped in front of him. He pulled out his shotgun and shredded the monster with one, point-blank, shot and then a hard punch.

"Watch out next time." he grumbled. He ran forward and swept the area with his assault rifle. Swarms of infection forms burst. Then, something unexpected happened. A carrier form lumbered into the area. A man with a sword ran up behind it. John realized what was going to happen too late.

It exploded when he hit it. Flood poured over the man, then moved on to the unsuspecting victims near him. Blood and remains covered the ground. The cries of terrified or infected citizens filled the air. The Arbiter melted them and smashed any infection forms that came too close.

Marines located and escorted any living people out of the area. The ground, now black with blood, became covered in Flood as carriers burst. The Hornets flying overhead killed hundreds of infection swarms with missiles and machine gunfire.

Auron handled the juggernauts fairly easily. Elites showed up after a while to help. They followed the Arbiter, shredding anything in their path. Glorious warriors, no matter what.

John had seen nothing of this world yet, but when he turned to kill a juggernaut coming in from his left he noticed something. The way Lulu fought. She raised her left arm, then brought it quickly down. A white-hot bolt of lightning fell at her command.

Magic? That was impossible. John drove the thought from his mind once he focused on the fight. His ammo was running low. Finally the Arbiter met up with him.

"Johnson says that the area is clear." he shouted over the gunfire. "My people are ready." Suddenly a large crack filled the air. It resonated from High Charity.

"Lets clear out before the Gravemind pays us a visit." said John. They quickly gathered the six others as they evacuated. Before they could leave, though, John's comm system clicked on.

"_Chief, Johnson here, we need your help. We found some more survivors. Only difference is that these people have some machinery. Not much, but at least they have guns. Find us on your HUD, you should see us on your tracking. Get over here!_" the Chief quickly told Arbiter. They cut off and headed diagonal from where they were. The six went with them.

They found the people that Johnson was with. A mass of Flood was attacking them. They were very close to the water. The Flood were streaming out. Juggernauts and infections poured out of the moonflow. They had started to toss grenades into the water. Even the people the Marines were helping had grenades.

Rapid explosions tore the water apart. Wakka stopped.

"Hey, I ain't helping no Al Bheds, ya!" he shouted.

"Are you serious!" Tidus said. "They need our help, okay. It's not their fault!" then he ran into the fray. The Elites moved to the front to defend them while they fled. The Chief watched and actually felt good to have them on his side for once. They ran back, the Elites followed soon.

Once they were at a safe distance, the Elite warship moved in. The people of Spira watched in awe as it began its assault. There was a large beam, an explosion, and High Charity was bits and pieces.

"Just the way I like it." said Johnson. He blew out smoke and smiled. "Scrambled." he cast a glace at Tidus and the others. "You know, they aren't half bad fighters. Even that annoying blonde kid is okay."

"This is not right." said the Arbiter stone faced. "They are drowning Spira." he said.

"We've done all we can." said the Chief. "I think it was enough."

"Let us pray that it was." the Arbiter said, watching the smoke lift from the moonflow beyond. The Chief walked back to where Yuna and her group was.

"Are any of you hurt?" he asked. Yuna shook her head sadly.

"Those people didn't deserve to die." she said.

"I'm sorry." said John.

"It's not your fault." she said.

"Rikku?" John heard Tidus say. Tidus ran over to a blonde girl that looked to be about fifteen. She was wearing an orange shirt and green cut-off shorts, very short. She had tassels hanging from the back of her shirt, and a ribbon held her hair in a ponytail. She smiled when she saw Tidus.

"I thought you were dead!" she said. "I'm glad you're not."

"I'm glad you're not, were you in that?" Tidus asked. Rikku nodded. She caught sight of the Chief and gasped. She sprinted over. Her jaw dropped. John took a step back. She smiled in awe.

"Wow!" she gasped. "What are you?"

"I'm a Spartan, a chemically augmented super-soldier."

"Neato!"

"_Neato_? What the fuck is neato!" Johnson yelled.

"Those ships." Rikku pointed at the ships overhead. "They're airships right?"

"Well, they travel in space too, outside worlds." said John.

"Whoa! That's so cool!" John walked away. Rikku followed him. The six others came over to where Chief, Arbiter, and Johnson were.

"We want to thank you." said Yuna. "For all that you did. By what those things did, I doubt even you could have stopped them completely."

"We're sorry we couldn't do more." said Johnson. "But we were glad to help. That's what we do. Protect." a Pelican landed and the Chief, Arbiter, Johnson, and the Marines boarded. Before it lifted, the earth shook. John and the Arbiter walked onto the open door and looked at the sky, fearing more Flood.

It was worse.

At first nothing. Johnson stepped out to look, too. Then a thin thread of light, like a far away needle, appeared in the distance. Then more appeared. They grew larger. Specks of light, like holes, burned through the blue of the distance. The air felt electric. Lightning struck the ground multiple times. Each time it left a burn mark that grew and spread, changing the way the ground looked.

From grass to sand. Then the light hit. The world exploded. Tremors split the sky and made the rest of the world, except for the warships, the Pelican, and the seven people alongside it, white out. Then with harsh reality, another world slammed into place. Literally exploding into existence around them.

Before the world settled, the Chief heard something.

_**Are you the one?**_


	6. Seeing Doubles

Chapter 5: Seeing Doubles

The world vibrated. There were multiple flashes of light. Each time the universe erupted, someone vanished. The warships, the pelicans, finally only Chief was left. Everything was out of focus. The blinding light was blurry. Everything became fragmented, like a kaleidoscope.

Chief tried to move, but his body made no attempt to respond to his motions. His was caught in an inter-dimensional rift. As he stood, he began to see things. First he saw Spira, he saw a great, hulking monster that resembled a whale, but only slightly.

The monster was floating in the air, it seemed to be pulsing, its flesh rippling and stretching. At first Chief thought it was just due to the fragmentation, but then his heart sank as he realized what was _really_ happening.

Suddenly the image vanished. He saw hundreds of pictures flash by, then dissipate in the white void beyond. Speeding along on an ethereal path to wherever it was that they were going. Another image appeared.

A fleet of Covenant ships were floating over a desert. Spirits were flying down to the desert below, depositing an assortment of Brutes, Jackals, Grunts, and Hunters. Above all the ships, the Forerunner Dreadnought was floating halfway inside the dimension. It was transparent, every few seconds it would transition in and then out of the world.

Let Truth deal with that for a while. John smiled at the thought. Then the vision left, swept away by a temporal current. Then a great line of silver cut through the white. John's breath caught. The gigantic weapon was being pulled though the void, something was ripping it from his universe into another. Something was bringing the Halo into another world.

Then it too was gone, but John could still see it, it had merely moved farther away. But a figure had appeared before him. A creature. John could not tell its size, or much of anything about it really.

A brown cloak surrounded it from head to foot. The cape even trailed the ground. The hood was low enough to touch the top of the cape. The being made a movement. It moved forward, the fragmentation affecting the way it looked as it walked. It stopped, still far away from him, but when it spoke, he could hear the voice ringing in his head.

It was deep, but rasping. Like two voices at once, but John knew it was one voice.

_So resourceful, able to adapt to any situation. Tell me Spartan, can you adapt to this?_

__

_____

**Hmm. Still too easy. Lets add someone else. A little detour. And just one more way to rid myself of these pests.**

Lord, I thought you said three . . ?

**Yes well, lets us add a fourth world before the third. I want you to introduce yourself.**

Of course, my Lord.

**Oh, and do not kill any of them yet, Thirteen.**

Of course, my Lord.

_______

There was a final eruption of light. The world blacked out. John gripped the shotgun as he stood alone in the dark. If only Cortana were here to . . . John realized, with horror, what he had forgotten. Cortana had been on High Charity. Somehow he had forgotten about her. Now she was . . destroyed. John snapped back into reality.

He felt with his foot to see if the ground was stable. No holes or cliffs. He stepped cautiously forward. Then a strange glow filled the darkness. John faced it and saw an oval of light appear. He noticed for the first time that he appeared to be in a cave. Or somewhere underground.

The oval vanished but a soft light remained. Something had come through the oval. A person, John couldn't tell if it was male or female. It wore a suit of armor, one that looked far more advanced than his own. It was red and orange and had large round shoulders. Then John noticed its right arm.

From the elbow down, a strange cylindrical object encircled the arm. It was a cannon! The person was kneeling on the ground, apparently not accustomed to inter-dimensional travel. Then again, neither was the Chief. The person stood up slowly, then whirled around. A foot connected with John's head.

The shields flickered and blocked the attack. The person paused when they saw the shields. John leveled the shotgun.

"Who are you?" the person asked. The voice made John realize that it was female. "And why did you bring me here?"

"I didn't bring you here. I don't even know where I am." John stated cooly.

"You . . you're human?" she asked. John nodded.

"And I'm guessing that you are too?" John asked. She nodded.

Another flash lit the room. When it had cleared, John saw that a third person was now with them. The person, to his surprise, looked very similar to the woman who had joined them. Only their armor was jet black with blowing veins traced across it. This person seemed a little more sinister.

The woman lowered the cannon directly at the new person.

"Is that how you greet everyone?" John asked.

"I know who that is." she hissed.

"Just being sarcastic." John said. He aimed the shotgun at the person in black. The newcomer was still for a moment, then jerked violently. The person convulsed for a few seconds. Veins of red light coursed across the armor. Then the person screamed.

The sound was hideous, unlike anything the Chief had ever heard. Both he and the woman stepped back. The scream was high pitched and cut like a serrated blade. It tore through the cave, and seemingly the universe itself. Then the person exploded in a flash of blue.

When the light cleared, someone else stood in their place. This person too wore black armor. Only, to John's surprise, it was Mjolnir. The person had no weapons. It looked straight at John.

"Hello Spartan. It was time we met formally. My name is Thirteen."

John flinched, it was the person from the void.

"You're a Spartan?" the Chief asked.

"No, not at all. I am far more advanced than that. I am not even human. I was built. Thirteen strands of DNA from multiple dimensions were fused together to make me. Therefore, I am Thirteen. You are using rudimentary technology. Mine is more sophisticated."

Then Thirteen lifted his right arm. On it, built into the top of the arm, was a machine. It hissed and unfolded. A small needle appeared from the front. John knew what it was.

The Chief dodged just as the weapon fired. The tiny beam struck the rock wall, pulverizing the stone. The woman had rolled out of the way too. John let loose a burst of shotgun blast. He was at close range, but the ammo did nothing but bounce off Thirteen's armor. He didn't even have shields.

The woman fired from her cannon. Pulses of energy struck Thirteen, but did absolutely nothing. With a flick of his wrist she flew backwards into the rock. Thirteen spun faster than John could see and caught the Chief by the neck. He lifted John off the ground and threw him into the wall.

John tried standing, but a blow to the head made him stop. The attack had gone straight through his shields. As if they weren't there.

John heard something, then a flash of energy slammed into Thirteen, knocking him off balance. John seized the chance and slammed his fist into Thirteen's helmet.

Nothing.

Thirteen scoffed and slammed his foot into John. The force sent him halfway across the room. Gasping, John stood. The woman unleashed another charged blast on Thirteen.

Thirteen held up his hand and the blast hit the air and stopped. So he does have shields, John thought, only he can turn his on or off. Thirteen stood and moved his arms in a slow, circular motion. Energy pooled around him. With a thrust the energy flew at John and the woman. The impact slammed them both into the wall of rock. Once again, Thirteen's attacked rendered John's shields useless.

"You know, Spartan, I had hoped that you would have put up a better fight. But alas, it appears I am once again unbeatable. Fortunately for you, my orders aren't to kill you, yet."

"Orders?" John muttered. Thirteen nodded and an oval of light opened up behind him.

"This is your ride out of here. Until next time, Master Chief. And ado to you too, Samus." Thirteen picked Samus up by the throat an tossed the through the portal. He picked Chief up the same way. "And don't worry Spartan, I read your mind." His hand slammed into the back of John's helmet, then he tossed John through the portal.

A flash of light consumed the world, and then John was back. He was laying in the sand in the middle of the desert. Samus was laying next to him. John managed to stand. Samus slowly started to rise. Just then, John heard a familiar voice.

"How the fuck did you forget me!?"

(P.S.- My computer screwed up, so for some reason I can't get the "edit" tool on this sight to work, and I can't properly upload the original chapter. Anyway, normally Thirteen talks in italics with no quotation marks. So I've added them to what he says for now. In later chapters he won't. Oh, and sorry about the delay, I've just been really busy.)


	7. Reunited and Broken

Chapter 6: Reunited and Broken

"How the _fuck_ could you forget me!?" Cortana practically screamed. John's ears rang.

"Sorry, I forgot, I don't how either." John said cooly. "Wait a minute, how did . . did Thirteen . . ?"

"Yeah. That . . black Spartan . . took me from High Charity. I don't know where he took me, or what they did to me exactly. I know they scanned me, they know about you. Everything about the UNSC that I had. All that I knew, now so do they."

"Why the hell would they want any of that?" John wondered.

"Not sure." she sighed. "I'm still a little shaky from the scan though. I tried to protect the information, but whatever they used on me was too complex and powerful to block out."

John looked up and saw something in the distance. The Forerunner Dreadnought slipping in an out of this world. John grimaced.

"What the hell is happening, Chief?"

"I don't know." John swapped the shotgun for the assault rifle. Most of the ammo was still there. "But we're about to find out." he turned around. Samus was still on the ground. She had sat up, but hadn't moved since.

"Hey, Samus right?" he asked. Samus looked up at him and nodded. "Can you stand?" he asked. Samus slowly rose to her feet. "Good. Can you fight?" as if to make a point her arm cannon charged, then stopped.

The Chief nodded then started off to where the Covenant ships were floating. They had been almost directly above a city.

"They've seen us." Chief said.

"Who?" Samus asked. John pointed to the ships.

"Covenant. I'm from a different universe than you. In my universe the humans are at war with a conglomerate of alien races. The Covenant, their leader thinks that activating a set of machines called Halo will make them all gods. Truth is, it would kill everything in our galaxy. Recently their strongest race, the Elites, just separated and joined the humans. And now they've sent someone to kill us."

John could see the city in the distance, and racing towards he and Samus were three ghosts.

"Alright, we can use those to get to that city. So kill the drivers, not the vehicles." Chief said.

"Got it." Samus lifted her cannon.

As the ghosts came within range, Chief let loose with the assault rifle. His HUD guiding his aim. A grunt dropped out of a ghost, the alien vehicle slowed to a stop. The other two opened fire. Samus picked off another grunt. The third made a wide turn around one of the dead ghosts.

"Kill that one." John said. Samus charged a blast and fired. The shot hit the ghost, resulting in an explosion of plasma. John climbed into a ghost and powered it up. "Think you can do it?"

"Seems pretty easy." Samus replied.

"I meant your arm." John said.

"Oh, I can manage." she said quickly. They turned the ghosts around and sped towards the city. In the distance the Covenant ships suddenly seemed interested in something else. For the moment, John couldn't see what.

As they neared the city, John saw a battle in full swing. A small army of armored men with swords were fighting off the Covenant, barely. Swords again? John shook his head.

The Brutes weren't even bothering to hide. John let loose a barrage of plasma from the ghost. The semi-heavy fire cut down a number of Brutes before they hid behind a number of rocks. John jumped off the ghost and pulled out a frag-grenade. He pulled the pin a waited a second before tossing it over the rock.

The Brutes saw it just as it exploded. Killing those closer to it, hurting those a little farther from it. A Brute jumped out from behind a rock and fired his spiker. The white-hot shards of metal buried themselves in the ghost. John ducked away and cut the Brute down with his rifle.

The Chief and Samus went behind a rock. John checked his ammo. Still plenty.

"Um, Chief, was it just me or were those people fighting with swords?" Cortana asked.

"They were." Chief replied. He looked back around the rock. The Brutes were getting brave and started to come out from behind their cover. John leaned out and killed one. He ducked back just as a number of spikes embedded themselves in the rock.

An explosion shook the ground. John moved to the other side of the rock and looked towards the Covenant ships.

"What was that?" Samus asked. She stood and fired on a Brute, her cannon shredded the Brutes shields and armor.

"UNSC, it's the _Dawn_." John said.

"The what?"

_Forward Unto Dawn_, it's a UNSC ship. Looks like there's two, no, three Elite ships with it. The Covenant are under attack and they appear to be losing." John glanced up at the Dreadnought. "Lets just hope that stays where it is." There were five Brutes left.

John threw another grenade. This killed two Brutes. John killed one, and a charged blast from Samus took out the last two Brutes. John and Samus walked out from behind the rock and headed towards the city gate. The soldiers stood motionless, all in shock at the sight of the two obviously very advanced people.

"Where are we?" John asked bluntly. His tone revealing his lack of patience.

"The city Rabanastre." the guard said nervously.

"Were those the only ones?" John asked, pointing to the Brutes. The guard shook his head.

"There were more, they came from all sides of the city. We came out here and shut the gate. Then we were cornered by even more of the monsters."

"You mean to tell me you left your people in their to _die_!" Samus asked, her voice cold.

The guard stuttered, "T . . t . . they aren't our people. We conquered them. They're lower than trash!" Samus started forward, John put a hand on her chest to stop her.

"Let us in there." John pointed towards the city with his free hand.

"You're crazy, you can't possibly take all the . . ."

"You'd be surprised." he said. "Give me one minute, then open the door." the guard nodded then headed toward the door. John went back to where the Brutes lay. He grabbed a spiker and filled it, then collected extra ammo from the guns laying around. He discarded the shotgun and hefted the spiker with ease. Samus gasped when she saw the size of the gun.

"They . . you . . use this as a handgun?" John nodded.

"Cortana, see if you can patch me through to the _Dawn_."

"On it." The massive doors groaned as the tumblers unlocked them. Samus and John took cover on opposite sides of the large path to the gate, both hid behind stacks of supplies. The Chief's comm crackled.

"_Chief, that you?_" Miranda Keyes asked.

"Yes Ma'am." John answered.

"_Damn, I was beginning to think we were screwed! What the hell are you doing down there?_"

"About to take this city back, Ma'am." John answered.

"_Godspeed, soldier._" the comm clicked off. The massive doors were open and the number of Grunts spilled out. John switched to the assault rifle and let loose a number of short bursts, Samus followed suit. With a number of terrified squeaks the aliens were dead.

"Pathetic little creatures, really." Cortana commented. John grunted an agreement and he and Samus left their cover. As they passed the guards John turned to them.

"As soon as we're in, shut the gates." he said quickly. The guard nodded.

"No problem." he said. Chief and Samus walked further into the city.

"Chief move!" Cortana yelled. John moved just in time as a green explosion charred the wall behind him. "Why the Covenant let Grunts use fuel rod guns I'll never know."

"They just want the little shits to feel loved." John said as he gunned down a Jackal and the three Grunts beside it. Samus knocked two Jackals off the roofs of nearby building. Two more fuel rod blasts hit their position.

"Damned little rodents won't stop their blind fire." Samus said. Three Brutes and ten Grunts charged from a building. They were coming up a sloped ramp. Samus dropped two more Jackals then did something completely unexpected. She collapsed into a ball. The ball then rolled down the incline, dropping a number of glowing spheres on the way. The spheres exploded, killing the Grunts and one Brute. The other two were injured.

John gunned down the last two Brutes with his assault rifle. Samus rolled back up the hill and sprang back to her original shape.

"How did she . . ." Cortana began.

"What are you?" John asked.

Samus shrugged, "A bounty hunter, what are you?"

"I'm a soldier." John replied.

"Ah, two would-be enemies joined together to survive. Poetic, huh?"

"Not really." John said.

"I think it is." Cortana said with a laugh.

"Hmm." John grunted then moved on. After a few minutes John's comm came to life.

"_Chief, you still with us?_" Miranda asked.

"I hope, Ma'am."

"_Well we just found Johnson and his Marines. The Covenant are down to one ship, we're picking up the Sergeant-Major and heading to the city. Once we finish up here we'll provide you with support. The Elites have agreed to supply you with some soldiers too._"

"Thank-you, Ma'am."

"_Keyes out._" John knelt down behind a wall and picked up a fallen Grunt's fuel rod gun. A Brute below them had decided to make use one of their plasma turrets. John put down the spiker and lifted the gun. Samus had his attention. John fired once. Unfortunately, even though a fuel rod gun was stronger than a human rocket launcher, it was slower.

The Brute saw it coming and moved. Samus diverted his attention again, but still he moved. Finally Samus collapsed into a ball, but instead of going down to the brute, making her an easier target, she rolled back and forth between the two buildings. John fired his last shot, this time when the Brute saw it he was too late. The green shot blew him to pieces.

John and Samus hurried down the hill. John hooked the spiker to his leg and picked up the plasma turret. A moment later they heard an explosion from the distance.

"Keyes just radioed in that they're on their way, Chief. It'll be a minute though." Cortana said.

"Good." John said. A ghost turned the corner up ahead. It picked up speed and then slowed to fire. Plasma tore through the rock around them. Samus released a charged blast. The energy nicked it, but still flipped it over. John ran over to the overturned ghost and sliced down with the spiker's blades, embedding them in the Grunt's head. John pulled the blades out and pressed on.

As they progressed they fought off six more ghosts. John's assault rifle was now useless and his only weapons were Covenant. He still had his spiker, which coincidentally had _plenty_ of ammo. His second weapon was a plasma rifle. He had long since used up the plasma turret.

The number of Covenant seemed to be growing the further they went. John ans Samus had just finished off a Brute cycle, John still didn't know _why_ they would bring such a big vehicle into the small streets of the city. They heard something behind them.

A warthog, gauss, made a tight turn around the corner behind them and screeched to a halt. Johnson waved from the driver's seat. He took the cigar out of his mouth and motioned to the Marine on the turret.

"Never let one of these idiots drive." he said. "What you been up to, Chief?"

John motioned to the city around them. Johnson shook his head and then noticed Samus.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Samus. I met her after we were separated. There's more bu, that can wait for a little while longer." John said. The Arbiter walked over to the Chief.

"The people from Spira are with us. You were the only one we lost."

"I think it was intentional." John said. The Elite nodded and then nodded a greeting to Samus. Samus returned the favor.

"Samus, meet the Arbiter." John said.

"Under different circumstances, a pleasure." the Arbiter said. "Our surveillance reports that there is a palace up ahead. That is where the Brutes have gathered. There is a strong resistance there. Maybe an ally." John nodded and headed forward.

The Elite had been right. A fairly large number of Covenant had amassed as the palace. And _something_ was holding them off. Strange beings hovered it place, unleashing deadly bursts of what appeared to be magic.

There is no such thing as magic! John told himself. You are a soldier, not someone who lives in his mother's basement. Magic does not exist. But still, the evidence was convincing. The Marine on the turret of Johnson's warthog let loose with the gauss cannon. The surprised Brutes took a moment to retaliate. By that time, however, the Elites had charged forward with a magnificent battle cry. The Brutes were strong, but the Elites were far better warriors. John and the Marines barely did anything. They mostly watched in awe as the Elites cut down every last Brute.

For them, this was a form of vengeance for what the Brutes had stolen from them.

"Incredible." Samus said quietly. "They looked so . . powerful out there."

"Try fighting them." John said. "They're an even more impressive opponent. Johnson got out of the warthog. He took a long drag from his cigar and dropped it. His boot crushed the stub and he pulled another cigar out of a pocket on his uniform. He walked down to where John, Samus, and the Arbiter were standing, near the palace steps.

"Hey anyone in there?" he lit the cigar and put it in his mouth. "We just killed these shitheads for ya'."

The palace doors opened. Six people walked out. Behind them was a mix of civilians and soldiers.

"We're friends. My name is Sergeant-Major Johnson. This is the Master Chief, Samus, and the Arbiter. We want to help you."

A boy with blonde hair stepped forward, "I'm Vaan. This is Penelo, Ashe, Basch, Fran, and Baltheir." Johnson stepped closer to John.

"What the _fuck_ is it with all these blonde kids and them not wearing their shirts?" he asked.


	8. Thoughts of a Twisted Mind1

_**Interesting, though weak against you, he is quite capable of obliterating most opposition.**_

_Yes, well . . ._

_**Don't fret, Thirteen. You caught him off guard the first time. The next time you two meet I guarantee he'll be a little more prepared. **_

_I certainly hope so, my Lord. It can get rather boring with no competition to speak of._

_**Also, I am going to place a fragment in you, that way the next time you meet, I can say hello myself. But back to the point. They are almost all here. Once they have all united, then we may crush them. **_

_But why wait, Lord?_

_**Because, Thirteen, if we did not destroy them all at once, then those we cut down may return. **_

_Are you sure of this?_

_**Completely. Ever since their ancestors stole something from us. Their thievery now inhibits our ability to kill them. **_

_Would it not take time for them to return?_

_**No, they are few, and we were so many. The more you kill at once, the longer it takes for them to return. The Seed will take its effect soon enough, though. And then we can end this . . forever!**_


	9. First Coalition

Chapter 8: First Coalition

After introductions, Chief, Samus, Johnson, the Arbiter and the people of the world that they called Ivalice joined in the foyer of the palace to speak on what was happening. Miranda Keyes joined them, being the highest ranking human from the UNSC. She was joined by the Elite Shipmaster that was currently present.

The people of Ivalice regarded John with a sort of respect/fear. They knew that he and the other armored person had nearly retaken their city single-handedly. They wouldn't forget that.

Miranda eyed the . . well she couldn't very well think of them as alien. Except maybe for the tan woman with rabbit ears, named Fran. She considered what to say, then with a sigh, said what came most naturally.

"As many of you can probably tell, we aren't from your world." she said bluntly. "We don't know why we're here, or who brought us here."

"Not necessarily true, Ma'am." John said. He had a battle rifle propped against his shoulder. He had gladly traded out the alien weapon for the more familiar UNSC gun. He stepped up beside Fran, who looked up, noticeably surprised by the fact he was inches taller than her. She raised her eyebrows quickly before returning her attention to the matter at hand. Balthier had noticed the look, and the sky pirate did _not_ like it.

"What do you mean, Chief." Miranda asked, her curiosity piqued.

"When I encountered Samus, we ran into a being in black Mjolnir armor. He called himself Thirteen, and said that it was his orders not to kill us yet. He was the one who gave Cortana back to us."

"What really disturbs me, is how strong he was." Samus said. "I've seen your Chief in action. His abilities equal, if not even surpass, my own. This Thirteen guy beat us to a pulp. His technology is far more superior and has abilities I didn't think existed. The thought of him taking orders . . quite frankly, that scares the _shit_ out of me."

Miranda nodded, "Very unsettling. We have seen a little bit of this force's power. But his plans . ."

"Are probably to kill us all." John said simply.

"You guessed this how?" Johnson asked, taking a drag from his cigar.

"Before I met Samus, I was stuck in some sort of ethereal vortex. I saw one of the Halo constructs being . . _ripped_, for lack of a better word, through the vortex. It was moving slowly, but something was pulling the Halo into another world."

Johnson gaped at the Spartan, "Aw, hell no! We went through all that shit just to blow up one, and now some mother fucker is gonna try and steal it! For what!?"

"Can't you guess?" Miranda asked.

"Uh, sorry Ma'am, lost control of myself there. Its just that the first time we found it, I nearly got my ass blown off."

"Okay, wait just a second!" Vaan stepped forward. "What does any of this have to do with us?"

"Just us being here shows that something is coming for ya." Johnson said.

"He speaks the truth. Every world we have visited has so far been ravaged by an alien power." the Arbiter explained.

"Apparently from your world." Vaan spat.

"I'm gonna hurt that kid if he don't shut up!" Johnson muttered.

"Sergeant-Major?" Miranda said calmly.

"Sorry, Ma'am."

"I understand how you must feel. But you must know this, it seems that whenever we unite, we stand a better chance of fighting back. When Johnson and the Chief paired up with the people from the planet Spira, we destroyed one of our greatest threats."

John held his tongue.

"I think that if we can team up against this, then we will become a force that this inter-dimensional threat will have a reason to fear."

"Excuse me, did you not just hear me say how much more advanced Thirteen was than us?" Samus asked.

"Yes, and what does that imply?" the Shipmaster asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"It implies that whoever is ordering him around has got to be stronger than him." Samus said. "Which means if we just try to rush into . . whatever . . we'll be obliterated! Not to mention the fact that we have no means of getting to them, while they seem to have every means to reach _us_!"

"She's right, no matter where we go we're sitting ducks." John said. "They can move us at will. We have now way to stop that."

"Your demon makes an excellent point." the Shipmaster growled. "Our enemy is very strong. I fear that chances of us being victorious for now, is quite small."

"And most of our ships are scattered around two alien universes as well as our own." Miranda commented thoughtfully. She bowed her head in thought.

The Arbiter sighed, "Why argue about how to strike back, when we have no way of doing so. We need to agree to fight together. It is the only way we can survive. You said it yourselves. Combined, we can be a force to be reckoned with. Each one of us exhibits unique abilities that can be used to fight back when the time and the means come that allow us to strike at our enemy, no matter what hole he hides in."

"He has a point." Auron said simply. "If anything we should at least agree to lend a portion, if not all, of our strengths."

"Divided, we will be crushed. United, we cannot be touched." Yuna said optimistically. Rikku jumped when she heard the summoner's encouraging words. If only it were true, John thought.

Miranda nodded in approval, even though she too knew how hopeless the situation would likely be. Samus shook her head, not caring if it would dampen the morale of anyone who saw it.

"We're going to die out there, Chief." she whispered to the Spartan. John merely shrugged and walked away from the group. Samus followed him.

"Why do you feel the sudden urge to be my tail?" John asked.

"Who knows." Samus said. John froze.

"Wait, did you just say that you actually did not know why you followed me?" he asked, his voice deathly low, and colder than ice. Samus flinched.

"Yeah, why?"

"Fuck." John muttered just before a beam of light engulfed them. Samus looked around wildly.

"H . . how did y. . you know?" she stuttered.

"When I first arrived on Spira, something compelled me to stay for almost an hour. In one spot." he said. "I just guessed that something similar would happen."

"Looks like you're right. Note to self: Don't ever do what you feel like doing."

"So, you'll just leave all instinct in the dust?"

"Pretty much."

"Worst decision you'll make." with another searing blast of energy they were both standing in a strange room. It was all metal, machines covering the wall, and the bodies of aliens littered the ground.

"This is where I was before . . before Thirteen . ."

"Yeah, what the hell happened?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't do this?"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember slaughtering a bunch of space pirates." Samus said earnestly.

"Hmm." John surveyed the carnage around him, then turned and looked behind him. A hallway turned a sharp corner, and something was in the dark corridor.

"What is it?" Samus asked.

"Trouble." John aimed the assault rifle at the corridor. Samus looked at him, then the hallway, then back at him.

"I don't hear anything."

"You aren't a Spartan." John said just before a strange creature flew out of the corridor at him. John fired, unleashing rounds of hot iron into the hovering creature. It didn't kill it, but when in came closer to John, he reared his fist back and slammed in into the creature, pulverizing it.

It dropped to the ground, mostly intact, save for the part that the super-soldier had punched.

John took a closer look at the creature. He felt sick.

"That's one messed up metroid." Samus commented.

"What's a metroid?" John asked quickly.

"They're a kind of parasitic organism. They latch onto you and, in a nutshell, drain all the life from you."

"Damn!" John breathed.

"What?"

"We have a really big problem." John said cooly.

"What's the problem?" Samus asked, a touch of fear in her voice.

"Two parasitic races combined. One sucks the life out of the victim, my guess is that the other can infect it after the body is dead."

"Huh?"

"These metroid, they're infected."

"By what?" Samus asked, now attentive of her surroundings.

"By something I hoped was dead." John thought. But apparently he'd been right all along. One of his greatest enemies was still alive.

"You mean what Miranda was talking about?" she asked. John nodded gravely.

"The Flood now have a third universe to infect."

____________________________

(_P.S.- The Flood infected Metroid was originally the idea of Cortanas-7hrD-L0veR_.)


	10. Oh, shit!

Chapter 9: "Oh, shit!"

"Chief!" Samus cried as a mutated pirate lunged for John. John ducked, the clumsy mutation flew over him. John grabbed its leg and swung it. The beast hit the wall and exploded. John stood and leveled the assault rifle.

He turned to Samus, "You said you were here before, get us out." Samus nodded and with a last look led the way. They headed up a flight of stairs into the iron walkways above. As they raced up the stairs, something started falling from the ceiling above. It wasn't until the things started to come back up did they realize it was more Flood/metroids.

John shot them as they came up from below. Samus moved near the edge of the catwalk to get a look at where the creatures were coming from.

"Damn, there's hundred of them!" she shouted. She charged a blast and fired straight up, disintegrating hundreds of the monsters. John heard something on the catwalks below.

Flood combat forms in pirate bodies were running clumsily up the stairs towards them. John pulled the pin from a frag-grenade and dropped it into a swarm of the combat forms. With a _thud_ more than twenty had become nothing more than wet confetti John nodded and turned back to Samus who was still firing upwards.

"Now." he said. Samus paused for a moment, confused, then she nodded and started up again. After a minute or so more of the infected metroids began to surround them.

John used the assault rifle as a blunt weapon, crushing any who came close enough. One ran into his shields, somehow escaping his line of view. It popped, but John's shields still flickered.

"This is getting very irritating." he muttered as he swung the gun again, slicing the disgusting parasites and their hosts.

"Got that right." Samus said. "At least we're getting exercise."

"Shut up." John muttered. Samus cleared the path with another blast. The hot energy melted a portion of the metal stairway, but they paid no heed. The only thing they cared about was getting out of there alive. The flood were, needless to say, merciless.

They were compelled by the Gravemind, which John had hoped was dead. Unfortunately it wasn't. His worse fears had been realized.

The cloud of infecting creatures had taken over every pirate in the installation. A small army had gathered beneath them, running up the stairs after them. John intended to cut them off. He put two frag-grenades down once they had reached yet another platform. He set them down on the edge of the top step. He pulled out two plasma grenades and activated them.

He dropped the glowing orbs onto the stair by the two human grenades and then backed away. The two plasma grenades exploded, their blue cloud of fire ignited the two UNSC grenades. The mixed fireworks ate through the metal catwalk, obliterating a good portion of the staircase. For good measure, Samus unleashed a charged blast of energy, melting away a few more feet of iron. The Flood had been cut off.

From below.

John turned around to see around five pirates descending from above, some climbing the catwalks to reach the two humans. John unleashed a barrage of hot iron into the infected aliens, killing the five on the staircase.

Samus killed three of the climbing Flood. As they raced up, desperate to reach the next level of the catwalk, a hoard of Flood/metroids burst out from a door. They started swarming the two humans. Trying to find a weakness in their armor, running both their shields down. John crushed many of them with his fists. He fired blindly in to the swarm, cutting the parasites to pieces.

The bloated swarm was soon shredded, John's shields sputtered back to life, their reassuring golden glow as they powered back up made John feel a little safer. Samus was kneeling on the staircase.

"M . . my shields . . . I need power for them to recharge." she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Can you walk?" Samus nodded and stood. "Get behind me, just guide me, I'll protect you until we're out of this hell." Samus nodded and directed him.

Swarms of the beasts would encroach upon them, but the Chief would cut them down before they neared them. He fought harder than he realized he'd ever fought before, for this one person. He found it strange.

John reached a section where much of the machines had been destroyed by the battle between the Flood and the space pirates. A hopeless battle. Unless you had fought them before, you were sure to die. It was easy to underestimate the Flood. A mistake that John had long ago learned to overcome.

Untouched bodies littered the floor before them. John and Samus moved forward briskly, knowing that if any Flood found this somehow untouched trove of life, they would be quickly overwhelmed.

Samus told John that they were near the exit and that meant they were close to her ship. A ship? The thought made John feel better, knowing that at least now they had a way of getting of the forsaken world they were now trapped in.

They navigated the last of the subterranean nightmare and stepped out onto a metal landing platform. The Flood were fighting hard not to let these two sources of nourishment get away. They poured endlessly out of the exit to the underground complex.

John and Samus poured all they had into the sea of death that struggled to overcome them and devour them. John would never become a part of the Gravemind's horrific unity. He wasn't about to let Samus fall victim to that fate either.

"Get to your ship!" he yelled, smashing a combat form to the ground, grinding his foot over the decaying body. Samus turned to him, ready to protest. "Now, just get it ready to leave, I'll get on board once you're ready."

Samus nodded and raced towards her ship. John then forgot everything except the will to survive. He focused only on the destruction of the horror before him.

The Flood were a real-life horror movie. They were relentless, frightening, and they spread just as fast as any disease. The first time John had seen them in combat forms . . he remembered the desecrated remains of ODSTs ripped apart and trying to kill him. It was something that would haunt him until the day he breathed his last.

"Where the hell is she?" John muttered under his breath.

"Detecting power signature, Chief. I think she's almost there." a blast of laser fire rushed past him, ripping the exit to pieces. John stopped and turned around. Her orange and red ship was hovering nearby. John spared not time in boarding.

The ship sealed shut. John looked around and saw Samus sitting at a console. The green light from the computer danced across her face, obscuring it with shadows. She still had her power suit on, but her helmet was gone. John never thought she'd be blonde.

"Ten seconds to atmo', lady." a male voice said.

"Who . ."

"My AI, Adam." Samus said. "Adam, this is the Master Chief." the AI acknowledged John and then was silent. John reached up and gripped his helmet. With a hiss it was off. He set it down on a darkened console. He didn't enjoy being in his armor all the time, it was just that he felt too exposed without it.

Samus looked around when she heard the helmet hiss. She raised an eyebrow.

"What?" John asked.

"Nothing, you just don't look exactly like I expected." she replied before returning her attention to the console. She studied the computer for a matter of minutes, occasionally consulting Adam. John sighed and merely stood, thankful for the silence that he knew, with utmost certainty, would be incredibly short-lived.

As they flew a series of strange readings appeared on the ship's radars and other sensory machines. John closed his eyes and waited, feeling the invisible hand that was about to pluck them out of this world. It was like a heavy weight, an impending shove that would force them to move to a new location.

Samus looked back at him, nervous, and was confused by how calm he looked. "There are a number of strange energy readings." she said after returning to the computers. "Strange radiation detected."

"Brace yourself." John said. The ship shook, once, then twice. John opened his eyes and saw the void outside the ship. Samus gaped in awe at the inter-dimensional highway. As second wave engulfed them. They were dragged down, down until the view was blackened save for the twinkling of distant stars.

"We're back . ." an immense explosion filled their viewport. The ship rolled violently, moving away from the fiery cataclysm. John stepped closer to the window, steadying himself against the constant shaking of the ship.

There was a war raging outside.

The Covenant were at it against the Elites and the UNSC. The Elites and humans appeared to have the upper hand, but that hadn't stopped the Covenant from glassing a small portion of the planet below. Three blackened spots still glowed from the impact of the planet-killing weaponry. John grimaced, his hands tightened into fists.

"Bastards." he breathed, his voice overcome with anger. Samus maneuvered the ship as far as possible from the battle. John picked his helmet up from where it had fallen and put it back on. The HUD lit up and Cortana immediately spoke.

"The _Dawn _is here. So is Miranda and Johnson. I've already contacted them, we're being patched through to Johnson's team now. He's on the ground." a moment later the comm came to life.

"_Hey Chief, we missed ya'._" Johnson laughed.

"Where are we?" Chief asked.

"_Good old, Spira._" Johnson said sarcastically.

"Send us a signal, we'll meet you."

"_Signal sent, we're on a place called the Mi'ihen Highroad. During the middle of something called "Operation Mi'ihen"._"

"What's their goal?" John asked.

"_To get rid of some big, bad beasty the locals call Sin. Apparently it's a reoccurring pain in the neck for Spira. Every time they kill it, it comes back in two years. This operation is going to use technology, which is forbidden here, to destroy Sin._"

"We've got the signal, Chief, we're going down." Samus said.

"We're heading down, Sergeant-Major." John said.

"_Johnson out._" the comm clicked off. John looked out the viewport. The Highroad was desolate and rocky. A large basin had been carved into the rock long ago by the water. An army of soldiers had gathered on the beach at the water's edge, ready to charge an unsuspecting foe.

John noticed a large cage on the cliff, where a number of Hornets and a Pelican were hovering. A small crowd, supposedly Johnson's party, was near it. The cage door blew off, and a huge monster landed precariously close to the crowd. The people fled as it advanced. The Hornets rose up and pulverized it with missiles and their Gatling guns. Chief nodded in approval.

A huge shadow was moving through the water towards the basin. John and Samus both gaped at the size. It stopped and then rose up, out of the water. He and Samus were nearing the cliff, the crowd was parting to let them land.

Once Samus had her helmet on, she and John rushed to the group nearest the cliff's edge. Johnson barely acknowledged the Chief. Yuna was staring in horror at the monster below.

"That . . t . . that's not Sin . . . . ." she stuttered.

"Not anymore." John's voice jolted the summoner. The skin of the beast was swollen and covered in bulbous ridges and swelling sores. A mass of rotten and rotting flesh. A beam of energy shot out of a tower at the monster.

It hit the air in front of the thing, bending it. John realized in shock that the Sin monster had a natural force field. It bent, and then exploded. A swarm of tiny creatures flew through and over the water onto the beach, catching many of the soldiers below off guard.

John felt sick, not because of what was happening to the people, but because of the sound the monster made. A deep, unearthly chuckle emanated from Sin. Of course, it was no longer Sin. A marine, Horowitz whom Johnson considered his right-hand man, stepped up beside Johnson. He was an ODST, so a helmet covered his face. He shook his head as he watched the carnage below.

"Oh, shit!" Horowitz muttered under his breath. Silently, John concurred. This was about to get a whole lot worse.

__________________________________________

_**They are, more useful than I figured.**_

_Very, my Lord._

_**Thirteen, I am quite busy now. I would like you to observe what is transpiring for me, but make no move against the Spartan or any others.**_

_Absolutely, my Lord._

_**He has become a testament.**_

_No, my Lord, a monument. He is a monument._

______________________________________

**Author's Notes:** First off, for any of you who still read this, my pen-name has been changed to _finem facere mundo_. Which is basically Latin for my old name. It is also my motto, it reads: _To Make an End to the World_. Fancy, huh? Be on the lookout for Chapter 10: Monument.

_**End of Chapter 9**_ -


	11. Monument

Chapter 10: Monument

The following battle was one that would haunt the Chief's sleep for the rest of his life. Above, the Covenant were at war with the UNSC and the Elites. The battle consumed the skies an no one seemed to be gaining the upper hand in the extraterrestrial war.

Below, a monster was on the rise. Gravemind, the Flood's hyper-intelligent critical mass had infected Sin, the most powerful creature in Spira, and was on a rampage. Hundreds of scales flew off of the monster, these exploded, sending infection forms flying over the beach below.

"Sarge . . wha . . what the _fuck _is that!?" Horowitz gasped. Before the Sergeant-Major could answer, something else did. A deep, rasping voice boomed across the basin and up onto the cliff like a shockwave, radiating the pure malic and hatred of the creature that had spoken. The icy voice seemed to kill all hope that was left in the people of Spira who had gathered to watch Sin die for, what they thought was, good.

"_I . . I am the monument to all your sins!_" the Grave mind said slowly from somewhere within the now mutated Sin.

"Ironic." Johnson said.

"Ominous." John said while observing the scene silently.

"I think he really likes repeating himself." Cortana said. Chief nodded and walked back away from the cliff.

"Wha . . where the hell are you going?" Samus called after him. "Are you really going to try and kill that . . that . ."

"Grave-Sin." Johnson chuckled.

"How is this funny?" Samus asked.

"It isn't." John answered for the Sergeant-Major. He turned slowly. Samus tried to see through the visor, but to no avail. She knew that, even if she could, his face would show no sign of what he was thinking. The silent Spartan.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to end the infection before it gets out of hand." John said. He turned to Johnson. "I need a battle rifle, and the laser." he said. Johnson turned to Horowitz.

"Give Chief your gun and ammo, take his rifle. Then go and fetch the Chief's toy." Johnson ordered. After a quick exchange, and after Horowitz had raced towards the Pelican, John turned back the Johnson.

"My _toy_?"

"Well, it hasn't been used too much. It's mainly here for you to try out. So, it's your toy."

"It's a gun, a weapon. A very deadly one." John said. Johnson shrugged.

"Can't take a joke." he muttered. Horowitz returned with the Spartan Laser. John attached the green weapon to his back and quickly checked the battle rifle. Satisfied, he sat off towards a sloping path that would lead him closer to the basin. Johnson and a portion of the marines followed.

Samus moved up alongside John. They reached a point where a large hole provided excellent coverage of the beach. Johnson pointed to the hole as they passed. Two marines stopped and waited by the opening.

The Flood had already consumed most of the soldiers on the beach. The remaining few fought for their lives against the mutated bodies of the very people they were ready to fight alongside with. John knew what that felt like.

He moved slower when he reached the path that actually dropped off to the sandy hell. The Flood had spread to the path before him. Priests and other people were fleeing for their lives. Amidst the carnage John saw elderly, even teenagers being taken over by the parasitic creatures. John stopped dead and leveled the battle rifle.

He pulled the trigger and felt the gun vibrate as it released three simultaneous shots into the infected.

Johnson stepped up beside the Chief and cupped his hands around his mouth, his cigar in between two of his fingers, "Everyone run this way now. Do not stay where you are, you will die." John moved almost mechanically, clearing a path for the uninfected while the marines pinned their fire on the infected on the beach.

John glanced towards the beach. The Grave-Sin loomed before the beach. Shooting out continuous waves of scales. He knew what would happen if they let this area fall. Gravemind would have won a huge battle. He refused to allow it.

After the tiny infection forms were gone the uninfected raced passed them and up the cliffs. John and the others moved onto the beach, where the bigger threat lay. The last of the soldiers were fending off the combat forms, but John had his eye on something else.

Three juggernaut forms were moving slowly through the swarm of Flood towards them. John switched to his laser and aimed. The laser sight, a foreshadow of what was to come, blinked slowly then quickly. The gun dispelled a large blast of red energy. The attack hit two of the three juggernaut forms, blowing them to pieces. Rotting flesh scattered over the beach where the Flood has once been.

Samus, Johnson, and the marines were dealing with the swarm. It was slow going. The Flood would never cease in their unstoppable onslaught. The combat forms leapt over the smaller Flood and aimed their assaults at the deadliest foe they could see: Samus. John saw it. They were headed towards her.

Damned arm cannon.

John used the battle rifle. The powerful three-shot burst blew the fragile combat Flood to pieces. The soldiers from the basin moved back, closer to the marines. Their swords now seemed to be useful.

At such a close range, the could expertly cut down a combat form or eradicate a number of infection forms with one swing.

They had seen what the tiny creatures had done to their fellow soldiers. They understood the severity of the situation, and they wanted revenge.

John grabbed a combat form as it leapt at him, they were finally back to treating him as the more dangerous enemy. He brought the butt of the laser down and crushed the Flood form.

Using the now semi-useless body, John smashed it down on top of the infection forms, crushing them under the weight. He pulled the battle rifle out and, using precision marksmanship, began the process of wiping out all other combat forms on the beach. Once they were gone, the infection forms would fall even faster.

But as long as the Grave-Sin kept launching his apparently limitless supply of scales they would get nowhere. But maybe he would just shoot so many scales that he'd shrink to the size of a regular fish and then they could just shoot him. John shook himself.

Finally, the combat forms were all gone. The last died when it made a desperate attempt at a flying tackle. What it got, was an armored fist to its mid-section, crushing it.

John then aimed at the infection forms. As he surveyed the numerous numbers groaned at the thought of having to kill every last one of them. Suddenly he realized something. He looked back up at the cliff. What if the infection forms climbed up the rocks?

He sighed with relief when he saw the remaining marines ans a few newly arrived Elites burning or shooting the few stupid enough to climb the rocky overhang.

Out of the corner of his eyes, John saw a flash of light. He looked up to see a large red-colored bird flying around the Grave-Sin. It began to shoot beams of energy out of its mouth at the Grave-Sin. The attacks had no effect, seeing as by now the shields were back.

Johnson called out, "Where the hell is Horowitz?"

"Here, Sergeant-Major!" John stamped his foot down, crushing a small number of infection forms with his foot, before looking back.

Horowitz jumped down to the beach. In his hands he held the perfect object for handling the swarm: A flamethrower. He held out the object, the picture of eyes and a large gaping mouth filed with teeth painted on the sides. A sea of fire danced out from the barrel. The flames licked greedily at the sand, consuming its prey. Smoke rose up like a cloud into the cloudy sky above.

"What made you think of that?" Johnson asked.

"Well, I couldn't let those guys up an the steal my thunder."

"Say wha . . awe, shit! We're gonna die." Johnson said with a chuckle.

John looked up to see two marines hefting rocket launchers. They aimed, and fired. The rockets sped into the basin and hit the sand with two resounding explosions.

Samus jumped back when the rockets exploded, "Holy!" she cried in shock. Many of the Flood perished in the attack. Sand and smoke carried by the wind moved in their direction. Finally John moved over to Johnson.

"This is getting us nowhere, we need to . ." his comm crackled to life.

"_Chief, if you need any assistance, we're clear up here._" Miranda said from above.

"We could use some help with the Grave-Sin." John said. The comm was silent for a moment.

"_Clear the basin, the Elites have agreed to give you some assistance._" she said. The comm clicked off. John, Samus, Johnson and the marines rushed back up to the cliff. They gathered by the edge to watch.

A Covenant warship dipped low into the atmosphere. It hovered over the Grave-Sin and then a monstrous plasma beam fired down onto the Grave-Sin. The shields exploded, and the beam stopped. The ship dipped away and John looked up.

A UNSC destroyer was pointed straight down at the basin. John nodded. The ship fired a single MAC round. The high velocity chunk of iron connected with the Grave-Sin. Being half rotted, the round dug a huge crater in it, but did not stop. It went straight through to the basin floor, full force.

The result was a massive shockwave. It swept up the cliff and hit those gathered there. They were thrown back from the edge, all stunned. A deep roar resounded from the basin.

"_Reclaimer!_" Gravemind roared from below, "_You and your race will suffer greatly for what you have done!_" John watched as the Grave-Sin sank back beneath the waves. The MAC round had shredded the basin. A huge crater now collected much of the water, exposing more of the sand that used to hide beneath the surf.

Yuna turned around, her eyes searching for something. They settled on a man wearing blue robes who had hair to match. He stood, completely dumbfounded. She pointed at him, tears streaming down her face.

"You this was all your idea!"

"How can you blame me? I had now idea ths would have happened. That thing cam from their world!" he argued, pointing at the marines. He was about to say something else when a white flash hit him square in the chest. He flew backwards, slamming into a wall of rock. A large hole had ben burned into his chest, cauterizing all blood. John could see the rock behind the man through the large hole.

He slowly slid down, slumping onto the ground. John whirled around, looking up. The blast had been sloped downward, so where did it . . .

John's fists tightened. Standing high above them was Thirteen. His brown cloak was tied around his neck, fluttering in the wind. His hood was not covering his helmet. The arm weapon slid shut, he was staring directly down at John.

_Not yet, Spartan. Not yet. _

John jolted. He had heard the voice in his head. He looked over at Samus who, by the way she was staring at him, had heard it too. When John looked back at the cliff, Thirteen was gone.

"Alright people, back to the Pelican. We're heading for the _Dawn_. Keyes just called in, they're getting those strange energy readings again. That means its go time!" Second Pelican had flown down to pick up those who had originally traveled with the marines from Spira. Johnson and the marines piled into the other Pelican.

John went with Johnson, while Samus opted for her ship. They lifted off and cleared the atmosphere. After docking in the _Dawn_ John headed for the bridge. Miranda was sitting in the captain's chair.

Yuna was staring out the from window, crying. John stepped up beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. He could see the three burn mark on the planet below.

She pointed to the three, "I can tell . . its Bevelle, Luca, and . ." she shuddered, trying to catch her breath, " and Besaid." she gasped on the last one. Apparently it held deep sentimental value.

"Populated?" John asked. Yuna nodded.

"Luca has the most people in Spira, and Besaid . . is my . . my . . home." John winced.

"I'm sorry." he said. Yuna looked up at him, his helmet faced the planet below, golden visor shining in the light from the sun.

"They will be punished for their sins." a voice said beside them. John turned. The Arbiter was looking out of the window. His eyes hard as stone. He looked at Chief, "What we have done to you, I don't expect you'll ever forgive us."

John turned back to the window, "I don't think we will."

"Even so, Truth and the Brutes will not go unpunished. They will pay for attacking this world, and your worlds. It is the least we can do." he said.

"Energy readings growing!" Miranda said. A white bead of light formed in the distance. It quickly grew, racing towards them. The blast hit with extreme force. The ship shuddered, throwing some of the marines onto their backsides.

"That smooth ethereal terrain, huh Chief?" Cortana asked dryly.

"Yeah, real smooth." he answered. John watched the void waiting for the pinprick of color that would foreshadow their exit into the next dimension.

Wherever they were being taken . . .

____________________________________________________

**Author's Note:** _This chapter sounds awesome while listening to "Reclaimer," by Martin O'Donnell. For any still reading, the Grave-Sin idea was the result of a collaboration between Cortana_s_-7hrD-L0veR and myself. The use of the Halo 2 quote was the idea, though, of Cortanas-7hrD-L0veR. Be on the lookout for Chapter 11: Home, Sweet, Home!_

_**End of Chapter 10-**_


	12. Home, Sweet, Home

Chapter 11: Home, Sweet, Home

The sky opened up, the viscous maw of Earth loomed before them. Below them, the destruction this world suffered was clearly visible. Wreckage strewn throughout the planet's orbit. Remains of Earth's fleet and the super MACs that once orbited the home-world of the UNSC.

John had never expected to be here any time soon. Yuna was staring at the debris, realizing the kind of chaos that must have taken place here.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Earth." John said. "The home of my people."

"What happened here?" she asked.

"War." with that he walked away from the window. Miranda was trying to establish a link with Lord Hood below.

"We've got him." she said. "Lord Hood, this is Keyes, can you hear me?"

"_Loud and clear, where have you been?_" Hood asked.

"Not sure. We've been caught in a series of inter-dimensional rifts. We just go back and forth at random. Anything new here, sir?"

"_Yes Ma'am, that Forerunner ship keeps slipping in and out of solidity_._ It's been stuck over Africa for God knows how long._"

"It's stuck between two dimensions." Miranda explained. "We saw it a little more than two or three hours ago."

"_Well, for now it poses absolutely no threat to us. Do you have Master Chief with you?_"

"Yes, sir."

"_I have some new orders for you, then. Get over to that Dreadnought. I want you and your people to get in there and relieve Truth of his ship and his life. Understood?_"

"Yes, sir!" the comm clicked off. Miranda looked around her. The Chief was standing with his arms crossed, facing the wall. The Arbiter was looking out over Earth, his eyes searching for a glimpse of their new target. Yuna just stared, still in shock about all that was happening.

"So, we ready?" Johnson asked.

Miranda stared at him for a second, then nodded. "People, bring this ship into the atmosphere and take us to the Dreadnought. We're about to end the war with the Covenant."

The ship dipped into Earth's atmosphere, and set off towards its new target. Below them, a mountain range came into view. A shout from the hall outside the bridge drew their attention. Vaan burst into the room, marines trying to stop him.

"Blondy a little pain in the ass?" Johnson asked Miranda.

"While you were taking care of the Flood on Spira, this idiot would not shut up, he started yelling about how we had to take him back to Ivalice."

"He homesick?" Johnson sneered.

"Not exactly." Miranda said quietly.

"I demand to know why I'm being held hostage!" Vaan yelled.

"I'm gonna kill 'em." Johnson breathed. "You aren't being held hostage, you said you wanted to come."

"That was before I knew that you couldn't bring me back." Vaan spat.

"We told you that we were at the mercy of whoever's doing this." Miranda argued.

Vaan faltered, "Still, you need to find a way to bring me back to Ivalice!" he yelled.

Horowitz stepped up to Miranda and whispered something to her. She nodded and looked at John, "We're passing over a battle now." she said.

Yuna looked down through the window and gasped. John knew what she was seeing. Johnson took a look and shook his head.

"Damn." he said. He shook his head and looked back at John. "I'm gonna be glad to stop all this."

"I don't care what's happening yo your people, mine are dying back on Ivalice! My country, my home, is at war. Do you understand that!? I don't think you do!" he yelled angrily.

Johnson snapped.

He wheeled around and put an iron grip on Vaan's wrist. He looked at Miranda, "Permission to make him eat crow?" Johnson asked, his teeth gritted. Miranda nodded. Johnson walked out of the door dragging Vaan by the wrist. Vaan tripped and Johnson dragged him.

John and the Arbiter followed the Sergeant-Major. Johnson took the teenager down a lift to one of the levels below. Vaan struggled against the marine's grip, but to no avail.

"Let me go!" Vaan snarled.

"Give me a minute and I will." Johnson replied. John had a vague idea of what the Sergeant-Major was going to do. Cortana figured it out first.

"Oh." she said quietly. It confirmed John's theory. Johnson had drug Vaan down to the ship's hangar. He motioned to a marine to open the large door. With a hydraulic _hiss_ the large door opened. Johnson tossed Vaan down at the opening.

"Look." Johnson said. Vaan tried to get up, Johnson pushed him back down. "I said _look_." he growled. Vaan looked down, and gasped.

Beneath him was a full-on war. Marines, scorpions, hornets and warthogs were fighting viciously to stop a Covenant advancement through the mountains.

Explosions shredded the trees and tossed pieces of mountain around. The boulders were damaging the UNSC defensive. The Covenant, on the other hand, was having no problems.

Vaan took it all in, eyes wide, mouth open. Johnson leaned down and gripped the boy's shoulder.

"We don't understand, huh?" Johnson growled. "I know better than you do. You see that?" he pointed at the battle as they passed over it. Vaan nodded wearily. "Now, imagine that on a worldwide scale."

Vaan looked up at Johnson, his eyes showing a mixture of fear, awe, and disbelief.

"Oh, I'm not lying. Those bastards have either killed or damaged so many of our worlds, killed so many of our people. Your nation is in jeopardy? My damned _race_ is in jeopardy!" Johnson yelled.

He let go on Vaan and walked away. Vaan slowly got to his feet. He looked over at the marines. Of those whose faces he could see anger and sadness had washed over them.

Hate.

Vaan walked away miserably. When he passed John the boy whispered something. Any normal person probably wouldn't have caught it. But John wasn't exactly normal.

"I'm sorry." it was only a little louder than a breath. But he had heard it. Vaan didn't wait to see if his apology had been heard, he just walked away. Dazed and confused.

A marine hit the switch to close the hangar door. It slowly slid shut. John gave the soldiers a reassuring nod, then rejoined the others on the bridge.

As he walked onto the bridge he saw something in the distance. It was still very far away, but its massive size made it perfectly visible, even to someone whose vision wasn't enhanced.

Horowitz gaped, "Holy shit, that thing is gigantic."

"And in about fifteen minutes, its gonna be ours for the taking." Miranda said. She turned to John, "Can you handle it?" she asked.

Cortana answered for him, "Do you really have to ask?" she said. Miranda nodded and looked back out the window. The ancient warship looked so close, but John knew that by the time they reached it, it would completely consume them.

That is _if _they reached it.

___________________________________________________

**Author's Note:** _Thank's for waiting, sorry about the delay. I know this chapter is short, but the next two should keep you entertained. Speaking of the next two chapters, I probably won't be able to post anything new until the second week of June. Sorry, but I'm gonna be on vacation that week and will have no chance of writing. But once I get back, Chapters 12 &13: Dreadnought Assault-Pt.1 & 2, will come up sometime that week. So just wait patiently, this ride is gonna get a whole lot wilder!!_

_**End of Ch. 11-**_


	13. Dreadnaught Siege, Pt 1

Ch. 12: Dreadnaught Siege, Pt. 1

A number of Pelicans rose to meet the _Dawn_ as it approached the massive Forerunner weapon. A shimmering electrical field was surrounding the area around the ship. Waves of energy flowed across it like the tide of an ocean. The had become translucent again, so they waited until it became solid once more.

Chief, Johnson, the Arbiter and the marines were all in Pelicans, waiting for the ship to return to their world. A massive amount of Pelicans had flown up to them.

John knew without a shadow of a doubt that this would be the end of Truth. John had an assault rifle in one hand and a shotgun on his back.

There was an electricity in the air. The marines were nervous, mostly because this would more than likely be the most decisive battle in the war. Another reason was due to the fact that they would actually be on the ancient vessel.

Without any warning the ship solidified. John's grip on his rifle tightened as the Pelicans surged forward. They slid through the inter-dimensional field without any problem. A low, electrical crackling could be heard as the ship passed through the barrier. They headed for what had appeared to have been a docking bay on the underbelly of the ship.

They met no resistance as the headed for the ship. From where the _Dawn_ had been, the Dreadnaught had been huge. From where they were now, it was titanic.

The docking bay was covered with a force field for space travel, but the Pelicans were able to pass though it like they had the barrier. They all landed in the monstrous bay, and then piled out. John's Pelican had landed near the back of the bay, farthest from the force field.

All the marines comm systems were connected. By order of Lord Hood, Johnson was in command of the mission. The marines waited for their orders. Near John's Pelican was a large ramp that led to a sectioned door. He and Johnson both stood by the opening. Samus had opted not to come, saying that this was a personal battle, and that they should finish it.

Johnson finally spoke up once all the marines were out of the Pelicans and had moved closer to the ramp. "Alright marines! This is it. If we do this right, then we'll successfully remove the snake's head. If we don't, then we'll be the equivalent of piss!" he barked. "The Chief, Arbiter, and I will bring a squadron of marines through the door to scout ahead, once we get an idea of how we can more effectively position our forces we'll call you in with your orders. Until then, wait here."

The marines acknowledged their understanding and waited while the Chief and Johnson headed through the door with their marines and the Arbiter.

The halls were quiet. Two separate corridors stretched out in different directions. One went straight forward, the other snaked off the left before turning right.

"Well?" Johnson asked.

"Straight." John said, hefting the rifle. "We want to get to the front of the ship, this way seems pretty logical."

Johnson grinned and shook his head, "What about instinct?" he asked. John lifted and arm to point forward, but Johnson held up a hand to motion for John to stop. "Okay, okay. I get it." they started off.

They walked for ten minutes. Turning every few seconds and marking their path whenever they chose a different corridor. They came to a hall that had strange ridges along the walls. John moved slowly forward and immediately lifted his rifle when he saw what the ridges really were.

"Chief?" Johnson asked, bringing up his assault rifle. Johnson moved forward to where John was standing. "Damn." Johnson said.

Rows of deactivated Sentinels lined small pockets in the walls.

"There are probably a whole lot more like this." Cortana said. "Either the Covenant couldn't turn them on, or they didn't want to."

John nodded and glanced to his right as something caught his eye. A small wall console shimmered at the far end of the Sentinels. John headed for it.

"Oh, I see." Cortana said. John reached back and disconnected Cortana from his helmet and then placed her in the ship's console.

The console flashed violently and John heard Cortana shout. More from surprise than anything else.

"Halo array . . . activation . . . Forerun . . run . . runner . . . Tearan . . . war . . . seed . . . . . ." this was accompanied by an earsplitting scream.

"What the . . holy shit!" Johnson flinched when Cortana screamed.

"Cortana!" John said.

"I . . I'm alright." Cortana gasped from somewhere in the walls.

"What happened?" Johnson asked, watching the Sentinels more carefully.

"I don't know, a huge rush of information. Most of it was scattered and broken. The Gravemind has been messing with whatever AI is here."

"There's an AI here?" John asked.

"Yeah, but it talk to me."

"Can you tell us where we are on the ship?" John asked. There was silence for a moment.

"I need to get used to the system. This ship is really complex. It'll take a minute or two, but I should be able to have basic control in a few minutes. I'll try and get the Sentinels to fight on our side once I . ."

"No, let that be our ace in the hole." Johnson said. They moved on. A minute later Johnson stopped. "We'll wait here until Cortana can tell us where we are. Once we get a good idea we'll call in the rest of the marines."

"I wonder why we haven't seen any Covenant." Horowitz said."

"If we're lucky they'll still be on the ship, and if we're not . . ." Johnson trailed off.

"Its safe to assume that they could have just gotten out on Ivalice." John said.

"No, they're still here." Cortana said from an unseen speaker. "I know that, but I still don't have any video feed yet."

"What about the layout of the ship?" Johnson asked.

"Well, it looks like we were wrong about the location of the bridge. It turns out that the Covenant had the same idea."

"Which means?" John asked.

"It means that the bridge is in the middle of the ship's body. You still have a ways to go, but it's not as far as you thought it was."

"If the bridge of the ship is in the middle, then what the hell is the nose for?" Johnson asked.

"I'm not sure, Sergeant-Major." Cortana said. "I'm detecting a powerful energy reading from the nose."

"Try to get that AI . ."

"Monitor." Cortana cut Johnson off.

"Whatever. Try to get it to help us later. Not now, but once we draw out most of the Covenant forces."

"I'll try." Cortana sighed.

A high pitched buzzing tore them from the conversation. "Drones!" Johnson yelled. A door opened at the far end of the corridor and a dark green cloud poured through. Horowitz and two other marines chucked grenades into the swarm. Three bright, muffled explosions shredded the swarm, throwing bits of smoldering Drone all over the hall.

Rifle fire rang out as the marines opened fire, killing the last of the swarm. A marine was struck by a bolt of plasma and was tossed back into the wall. A small squadron of Grunts ran into the room, two plasma grenades were thrown. One fell short and managed to throw off the two forces. The second grenade hit a marine, he ripped it off and chucked it back at the Grunts.

"Eeep!" was the last sound a number of them made. One blue flash later and less than half the squadron remained.

"Cortana?" Johnson asked.

"Got it! Well, some of it, a lot of this is still kind of dirty, I have most of the area behind you. I know how you can set up a good defensive behind you." she began to relay the information to Johnson, who then sent the orders back to the marines who gladly rushed to their new posts.

The group moved forward. "Well, now we know where they are." Johnson said with a grin.

"Follow the rainbow stained road, sir?" Horowitz asked.

"Hell yes, soldier." Johnson squeezed the trigger and took down a Jackal. He let loose another three-shot burst into a second Jackal and the group pressed forward. A door opened down a corridor to their right. John dodged a blat from a carbine and rushed the Jackal.

John brought the butt of the rifle down and crushed the alien's skull. He grabbed the carbine with his left hand and used the last of the clip the kill the rest of the Jackals. After the snipers were dead he flipped the carbine in his hand and gripped the barrel. He swung it like a bat and took down a stray Grunt. John discarded the carbine and rejoined the group.

Another door hissed open on the far end of the hall in front of the marines. Two spike grenades soared into the hall. One embedded itself in marine. He instantly leapt forward, away from his squad. The grenade exploded, painting the walls with raw and burnt flesh. Chief shot the other grenade as it sailed towards them.

Four Brutes rushed them. A marine threw a grenade. It came up short and forced a Brute into a face plant. The marines took the offensive. The Brute on the ground went first. The marines killed the next two with a combination of gunfire and a grenade.

Chief charged the last Brute. He landed a punch to the alien's face. It connected with a satisfying _crack_! The Brute stumbled back and the Spartan landed let loose with his rifle. The Brute crumpled to the ground.

Johnson's comm crackled, "_Sergeant-Major, were taking fire back here._" a marine said through the comm. "_We've got tons of Brutes back here . ._" a scream and explosion cut the marine off. The comm snapped off.

"Shit!" Johnson growled. He glanced at the marines and then looked over at the Spartan. "These are brave men, Chief." he said monotonously. He sighed, "Let's make this fight mean something."

John nodded, "It already does." he said. They went through the door the Brutes had come through. It led into a long, thin corridor with eight halls branching off, four on either side.

Johnson motioned for the marines to spread out. The marines slowly moved forward. The first two halls both curved back around. The marines moved on to the second two halls.

"Doors, Sergeant-Major." Horowitz said. John walked passed them, moving to the next set of halls. "Shit, fall back!" Horowitz yelled. The Chief wheeled around. A flurry of plasma slammed into the wall, catching two marines. One tried to crawl back to the group. John and Horowitz both went to help him. A white, burning shard or iron embedded itself in the marine's head.

Horowitz jumped back and raised his shotgun. A Brute walked out of the hall and stamped on the dead soldier's head. Horowitz squeezed off a blast from his shotgun. It was like the Brute had been punched. It slammed into the wall and tried to raise its spiker. The Chief killed the Brute with a single shot to the head.

Close to twenty Grunts rushed out from the hall and spilled towards the marines and the Chief. Many of them paused when they saw the infamous "Demon" but then rushed him. John tossed a grenade into the midst of the pack, killing many of them. The Grunts tried to use their pistols, but those that came too close to the Spartan were killed by a simple kick.

Horowitz took down four Grunts with a close-range shotgun blast, Johnson killed them one at a time with his battle rifle. The marines simply gunned down the ugly bastards as they flooded towards them.

After most of the Grunts were dead a small swarm of Drones flew out of one of the corridors, firing erratically. John was caught in the middle of the swarm. He continuously switched between firing into the swarm and using his rifle like a bat.

A Brute leapt into the fray after many of the bug-like aliens were dead. The Chief saw a mutilated body laying in the middle of the floor. Apparently the Drones had managed to get marine with their bare hands.

The Brute hefted a Brute shot and fired three bullets in rapid succession at the "demon". John jumped back but was propelled into the wall by the explosions. John had rolled to face the opposite direction of the Brute which was now under fire from the marines from what he could hear. John quickly stood up and his comm came to life.

"_We need to get out of this hall Chief, find us a way!_" Johnson said. The comm clicked off. John stood and then stumbled. His vision narrowed and everything paled. A pulse of energy emanated from his chest with a loud _thud_. He realized he was seeing his heartbeat. He stumbled and looked around. The world seemed to be a mix of slow and normal paced motion. The fight behind him was moving in slow motion, but he was moving at a normal pace. He looked up at the last two halls again.

His stomach flipped.

Thirteen was standing by the corridor on the right His hood was up and the cloak was wrapped around him. An arm came out of the folds of cloth and pointed down the hall. John blinked.

When he opened his eyes everything was back to normal. He quickly looked around. A second Brute had joined the first, both were nearly dead. John hurried to the corridor that Thirteen had been pointing down.

It was a straight corridor but made a sharp turn left. Rows of Sentinels lined the walls. At the bend was an alcove. It was partially cylindrical. The Chief looked back and saw that the two Brutes were dead. He motioned for the marines to follow him. He hurried down the hall and looked at the alcove more closely. The bottom of the alcove was a circle with strange writings carved into it.

A loud _clang_ beside him drew his attention. A Brute Chieftain was standing not too far from him. It hefted it hammer and roared. It leapt at the Spartan and swung the hammer. John rolled away from the massive weapon. The hammer slammed into the circle inside the alcove. There was a spark as the hammer met with the metal floor. The Chieftain lifted the hammer to attack again, but a beam of energy, followed by four more, sliced through the Brute, carving it in half. John whirled around and brought up his rifle.

More than half of the Sentinels had unhooked from the walls, and throughout the ship the rest were about to do the same.

_**End of Ch. 12 -**_


End file.
